After the October 7th Hamas invasion/terrorist act/uprising (whatever you’d like to call it), a proliferation of signs started appearing overnight. There were several flavors: Free Palestine, Stop the Genocide, Bring Them Home, Ceasefire Now and We Stand With Israel.

As with all things these days, everyone has a side. It seems that most get their understanding of history, politics and people of regions like Israel or other war torn societies from Instagram headlines (I believe this is a Bill Maher comment). Yet, people are 100% confident and they have chosen a side and that side is right. Just like picking a sports team.

I often wonder what would would happen if I put all of these signs on my lawn. I suspect I would quickly find protesters outside of my house.

So, here I ask the question, are these views really incompatible with each other?

Let’s have a look at each:

Free Palestine – I see this as saying we need a two state solution, a concept that’s totally out of vogue these days but I think is the only way to long lasting peace in Israel. I don’t see this is as supporting Hamas or any other organization of their kind, rather giving the Palestinians their own homeland. Aren’t we all after a safe place to call home?

Stop The Genocide – I don’t think it’s genocide (some day I’ll write on this one), but when you are walking your kids to school and a bomb drops on your head, what would you call it? I call it “war,” which sucks and has no place in any civilized society.

Bring the Home Now – Duh! There is zero argument for taking hostages. Ever! That’s the move of Nazis and Red Army in the the early days of the Russian Civil War. Horrible! Bring these poor, innocent people home now.

Ceasefire Now – Yep, the war needs to end. No civilian bloodshed is acceptable, and this has gone FAR beyond “no civilian bloodshed.”

We Stand With Israel – Zionism is a hugely controversial word these days but yeah, I stand with the victims of this horrific massacre and terrorist act, whether I agree with Israel’s policies or not. In the case of war, civilians suffer the most, but they typically aren’t specifically targeted. Sure, it happens and in the case of Gaza with Hamas hiding in hospitals and mosques, it’s gonna happen a LOT. But, the human hunting of innocents that took place on October 7th was wrong. No argument! No buts. Disgusting and wrong!

Am I naive? Must I pick a side? Can all sides make valid points? From what I can tell I’m a total minority in this thinking, then again, maybe there are more people out there like me. Maybe, as with everything these days, the loudest voices are so damn loud that they block out all voices of reason. Particularly voices of moderation, dialogue, and understanding.

But, maybe they exist so I’m listening . . .